Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 0.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $245.18 and last traded at $244.78. Approximately 12,415,386 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 53,725,551 shares. The stock had previously closed at $244.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Apple Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.